NHL salary cap to go up $2 million in 2017-18

The NHL will expand by a team when the puck drops next season, as the Vegas Golden Knights are set to become the league's 31st team.

And the salary cap will expand with it, too, as the NHL and NHLPA have announced that the upper limit will raise $2 million, up to $75 million.

This is huge news for everybody, including the Bruins, who will now have about $12.4 million to play with this offseason.

That comes as a relief when it comes to re-signing David Pastrnak (expected to count against the B's cap for about $6 million per season when he and the Bruins hammer out a new deal). The increase also means that the Bruins could theoretically afford to pay Pastrnak a little bit more, too, if it comes down to that, without having to move a body out of town in a cap-clearing move. The 21-year-old Pastrnak scored 34 goals and 70 points this past season, and his 44-point increase from last year to this past season was the third-highest in the NHL.

Like Pastrnak, forwards Noel Acciari, Tim Schaller, and Ryan Spooner, and defenseman Joe Morrow are restricted free agents for the club. All four are arbitration eligible.

The cap should also allow the Bruins to add an impact skater -- be it on the left side of their forward corps or on the left side of their defense -- without breaking the bank.